
Qass C---1 5 T 



Book. 



~P V- e; 



EULOGY 



ON 



^Irraltam Sintoln, 



BY 



/ ^^ *< 



^^4^1 



GEORGE W, BRIGGS, D. D. 



JUNE I , 1865 




WITH THE I'ROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL 
ON THE DEATH OF THE PRESIDENT. 



S A L E .M . M ASS. 
1865. 



EULOG- Y 



ON 



g^braliam liEtjrlit, 



BY 



GEORGE W. BRIGGS, D. D. 



JUNE f, 1865. 




WITH THE TROCEEDINGS OF THE CITY COUNCIL 
ON THE DEATH OF THE PRESIDENT. 



S A L E M . M A S S 

i><or). 







GEOKGE \V. I'KASE, I'lintcr. 



CITY OF SALEM. 



At a special meeting- ol" tlie City (\)nncil, called for 
the purpose, April ITtli, iSGa, the Ma^'or comnmnicated 
the decease of ABRAHAM LINCOLN, President of the 
United States, to the two branches in convention, as 
follows : 

(lEXTLEMEN OF THE CiTV CoUNCIL : 

I have convened the City Council that you may manifest your sense of 
the severe liereavement whioh has so suddenly fallen upon the couutrj-. 

Amid the jubilant anthems of a loyal people, as the bow of promise and 
hope was beginning to illumine the clouds that had darkened our country's 
horizon, even while the dew-drops of pity were tempering to too lenient 
mercy the policy of its kind hearted victim toward his deluded country- 
men, the assassin hand that for four long years has been raised against 
the national life, has stricken down in cruel nuirder tlie cliosen and 
beloved Chief Magistrate of our land. 

The earthly life of Abr.\ham Linooi.n is finished. The tears of a 
grateful country are freely flowing to his memory, lie has gained all 
that life can give. He has won his crown of immortality through that 
sublime patriotism which gave to his country every throb of his pure and 
tender heart. This most gigantic crime of modern history could only add 
the crowning glory of the martyr to the spotless fame of the patriot, as 
it laid his lifehtss body im his country's altar. lie has left a )>righter 



example and a more enduring lame than lias fallen to the lot of any other 
man to leave since Washington illustrated his own life with those same 
high moral elements of character, puritj' of purpose, incorruptible 
honesty, tender humanity, and moral courage, which gave to Abraham 
Lincoln that hold which he had upon the respect, confidence and affections 
of the loyal people in all parts ot our land. He early learned and never 
forgot the principles of the fathers of the Revolution on which they 
luiilt the temple of liberty. Said he on oJie occasion : 

'■ Now, my countrymen, if you have been inclined to believe that all 
men are not (U'eated equal in those inalienable rights enumerated by our 
chart of liberty, let me entreat you to look back, — return to the fountain 
whose waters spring close by the lilood of the Revolution. Think nothing 
of me, take no thought for the political fate of any man whatsoever, but 
come back to the truths that are in the Declaration of Independence. 
You may do any thing with me you choose, if you will heed those sacred 
principles. You may not only defeat me for the Senate, but you may 
take me and put me to death. While pretending no indifference to 
earthly honors I do claim to be actuated in this contest by something 
higher than anxiety for office. I charge you to drop every paltry and 
insignificant thought for any man's success. It is nothing ; I am 
nothing ; Judge Douglas is nothing. But do not destroy that immortal 
emhlrni of hv manitij , — thr Drrlnration of Aincrirrni Independence.^' 

Should we not be penetrated witii gratitude to God that these prophetic 
words were not verified in his violent death until he had lived long enough 
to interjiret truly that " iiniiiortal emblem of humanity," and to re-enact 
its first principle by that immortal Proclamation which passed three mil- 
lions of his ff^llow beings from a state of bondage, to one of unconditional 
freedom . 

As in the grand crisis of tlie Revolution, Providence raised up from the 
humble walks of life one who should be the means of securing the blessings 
of lilierty and independence, so, at a crisis of our country when unholy 
lust of power and sectional injustice caused the Southern States to 
forget the memory of the Father of his Country, and trample upon the 
imperishable lessons of his Farewell Address, Providence from similar 
humble station in life raised up Aliraham iiincoln as a partieular fnvorite 



5 

t(. aHin.i and iv-ass.Tt tlw j»rinciplc8 nf Wahliiriirtoii in tli.' -..odiifhh and 
.;,M-<-atntw of liis own life, and tu be the mean.suf .,'uidin.ir tlie country from 
the verge of ruin till in this. His own good time, God has closed the 
earthly career of the nohle .Man, the Christian Patriot,— the Saviour of 
his Country. To the imn.<.rtal name of Abraham Lincoln the liomage of 
every loyal American heart will be jmid. ft will not be forirotten solmtr 
ns ijberty has a friend. 

■' All the euds lie aimed at 
Were his Country's, his God's and Truth's." 

But it is not the occasion nor is it lor me to in.lulge in lengthened 
eulogy of our late lamented <'Iiief .Magistrate. 

His funeral services are officially announced to take place at Washing- 
ton at 12 o'clock noon, on AVednesday the 19th inst. The various 
religious denominations throughout the country are invited by tl)e 
Honorable Assistant Secretary of State to meet in their respective 
places of worship at that hour, for the purpose of solemnizing th.- 
occasion with appropriate ceremcmies. 

Our sorrowing community will heartily co-operate with y..n in what<-ver 
more formal expression of n-specf for th.- illustrious dead you may be 
pleased to decide upon. 

Whereupon the two Branches separated, and the Inllow- 
ing Resolutions were unaninioiisly adopted; 

Resok-ed,— That the City Council of Saleoj shares, wjth unfeigned 
sensibility, the profound grief of the loyjil jieople of the i:nited States, 
in view of the sudden death, by the hand of violence, of Abk.ui.vm 
Lincoln, the honored and beloved < 'hief .Magistrate of our country. An 
evtmt so impressive in itself, and accompanied by acts of such awful 
i-rnninality , renders us more than ever .-onscious of the great and desiderate 
character of the struggle from which our government is now just 
emerging, and of the value of the precious sacrifices which have been 
required of our people. We recogni/.e that in this inexpressibly sad and 
fearful event not only was a patriotic, magnanimous, an.l admirable 
magistrate stricken down in the hiirbest place of our land, but that the 



6 

assassin'b blow was aimed at the country itself. In view of such i)(n-ils. 
and sucli wickedness, it becomes all loyal people to renew their confidence 
in the Divine Providence as leading and directing the cause of the nation, 
and when the exultation of victory is suddenly changed into mourning 
we may accept it as an admonition that there are still further trials and 
duties before us, ere the blessings of a free and stable gov(>rnment shall 
be perfectly secured. 

Resolrrd, That tlie City Council recommends to the citizens that, m 
accordance witli the suggestions of the Acting Secretary of State, they 
assemble, on the day of the Funeral of President Lincoln, in their 
respective houses of worship, for religious exercises, and that the Mayor 
be reiiuested to cause such further notice to be taken of th<; solemn 
occasiiin as he may deem suitable. 

Resolved, That we extend our heartfelt sympathy towards Mrs. 
Lincoln in her appalling sorrow, and to the members of her family. 

Resolved, That the City Council regards the murderous and desperate 
attack upon the Secretary of State with abh<n-rence and indignation, and 
rejoices in the assurance that the assassin's blows failed of tlieir deadly 
pui-pose. 

Resolved, That the present occasion suggests the further duty of 
acknowledging the lawful authority of Andrew Johnson, now President 
of the United States, and of recognizing the loyal purpose, the patriotic 
fidelity, the firm character and the eminent services which he has 
contributed to the public cause. We pledge to him tlu' prompt, cordial, 
and unhesitating support of the loyal people of Salem, and ofler him our 
best wishes for success in the responsible and trying, but noble duty that 
he has undertaken. 

Resolved, That the two Chambers of the City Council be hung with 
appropriate mourning drapery, for the space of thirty days ; and that 
the members of the city government wear the usual badge of mourning 
for the same period. 

Resolved, That a coi)y of these Resolutions be sent to Mrs. Lincoln, 
to the President, and to the Secretary of State. 



In City Council, April 24, 1865— An order was adopted 
that a Eulog}' be delivered before the City Council on the 
life and character of our late beloved Chief Magistrate, 
Abraham Lincoln, and the Joint Committee appointed to 
take requisite action invited tlie Rev. George W. Briggs 
to pronounce the Eulogy at Mechanic Hall, June 1, 1865, 
that day being designated by the President of the United 
States as a National Fast Day. 

In City Council, June 12, 1865, the following Resolves 
were adopted : 

Resolved, That the thanks oi tlie City Council be presented to the 
Rev. George W. Briggs, for the Eulogy delivered on the character of 
President Lincoln, and a copy of the same be requested for publication. 

Resolved, That the thanks of the City Council be presented to the Rev. 
Edward S. Atwood, for his services as officiating clergyman on the 
occasion of the Eulogy on the life and services of Abraham Lincoln, late 
President of the United States, delivered before the City Council of the 
City of Salem, June 1, 1865: and also to the Arion Musical Club, for 
the Musical Exercises performed by them on the same occasion. 



Salem, June I3ih, 18«5. 
Ry,v. George W. Briggs, D. D. 
My Dear Sir : 

Pursuant to a Ilesolve of the City Council, a copy of 
the eloquent Eulogy, delivered by you upon our late lamented Chief 
Magistrate, is requested lor publication. 

^'ery respectfully yours, 

JOSEPH B. F. OSGOOD. 



Salem, June loth, 1865. 

Hon. J. B. F. Osgood. 

Mayor of Salem : 

My Dear Sir,— In compliance with your re(iuest, 1 
send you a copy of the Eulogy upon Abraham Lincoln, delivered before 
the authorities of the City on the National Fast Day. 

Very truly yours, 

GEORGE W. BRIGGS. 



A D D li i: s s . 



Mr. 3Iayor, and 

Gentlemen, of the City Council: 

It was most natural, and fitting, that tlie first 
official proclamation of our present Chief Magistrate 
should set apart a day for the commemoration of the 
virtues, and the services, of his revered and nuirdercd 
predecessor. Summoned so suddenly to take his place 
amidst circumstances so tragic, and so unparalleled, 
repeating the solemn oath of office by the unlturicd 
form of this martyr to his country's cause, — sharing 
in that love for him which thrilled every loyal breast, — 
such an appointment was no formality, but an irre- 
pressible impulse of the heart. 

What Inaugural Address, indeed, could Andrew 
Johnson have pronounced more appropriate, or more 
significant, than an earnest, henrtfelt request to the 
whole people to join with him in offering a tribute to 
Abraham Lincoln's name? It is fitting that the 
official representatives of tlie people, and the i»eople 
2 



10 

themselves, moved by a common reverence, should 
meet in public assemblies, or around Christian altars, 
for such a purpose to-day. We cannot bring back the 
intense feeling of the first paroxysm of National grief. 
When the terrible tidings of crime burst upon us, 
darkening the world, in the words of Emerson, " like 
the sudden shadow of an uncalculated eclipse," the 
unknown depth of our love and trust w^as suddenly 
revealed, and a sense of personal sorrow overwhelmed 
us, almost as if we were standing by a father's bier. 
Our previous love and reverence became tenfold more 
deep and fervent through his martyrdom. For it 
needed only that to give sacredness to the name which 
had already become so dear ; and the assassin only 
doomed himself to eternal infamy, while he enthroned 
his victim in unfading glory. No truer tribute was 
ever paid to purity and greatness than that spontaneous 
outpouring of sorrow and affection on the Sunday after 
the assassination. Smitten, pierced with anguish, the 
nation bent at its altars beneath a passion which the 
consoling, triumphant promises of that Easter morning- 
had scarcely power to calm. 

No Sabbath stillness ever e(iualled the solemn hush 
of feeling on the day of the funeral rites. No official 
request was needed to secure its appropriate observ- 
ance. Affection outran all official intinuitions, and 



11 

young and old, opponents and friends, the citizen 
everywhere scarcely less than the freedman wlio 
greeted the fallen President as a savior, hastened to 
pour out the costly, the priceless offering of their 
reverence. That was the one day, indeed, without a 
parallel in all our liistory, — a day divinely appointed, 
and liallowed, in a people's love. 

We cannot repeat that unecpialled tril)ute. Nor 
would we revive that all absorbing grief even if we 
could. We shall honor Abraham Lincoln most, not by 
idle lamentations at his loss, but by a devotion to our 
country, generous, self-forgetful as his own. But he 
cannot be forgotten. While our hands are pledged to 
his work, our hearts will linger by his grave. Indeed 
liis character both deserves and bears our closest study. 
Clothed in such perfect simplicity, challenging no 
applause, l)oth its majesty and its beauty so uncon- 
sciously worn, we find it putting on new brightness 
under our loving, yet careful scrutiny. 

No occasion consecrated to his memory can ev(M- bo 
a formal service. His name is one of the few, Iho 
immortal names that were not born to die. His Came 
is not simply American, but European also, rx.lli 
Continents are one in words of Eulogy. More than 
hair a (•(Mitiiry after the dcaih ol' Washington, the 



12 

Prince of Wales, with his attendant nobles, stood 
with uncovered heads at his tomb. To-day the people, 
the scholars, the legislators, the peers, the Queen of 
Ensrland herself, hasten in reverence to Abraham 
Lincoln's new-made grave. Foreign tributes to his 
qualities as a man and as a magistrate, to his 
intellectual strength and his moral greatness, to the 
purity of his purpose, the dignity of his aims, the 
splendor of his success ; vie with our own offerings of 
love. Eulogies drop from the most eloquent lips in 
imperial councils. Not only do these almost universal 
recognitions of his worth make ample and generous 
atonement for all the abuse at first heaped upon his 
name ; but those of us who have loved him longest, 
and revered, confided in him most, find them true to 
the deepest cravings of our admiration and our love. 
" Next to Washington," standing " on a pedestal from 
which he cannot be taken down," "animated by noble 
sentiments which make us proud of belonging to 
human nature;" — these words, and such as these, 
spoken in Europe's different tongues, have been 
echoed back across the sea. The country loved and 
honored him, and all the world learned to give him 
almost equal love and honor— and had the telegraphic 
wire been laid beneath the ocean to tremble with the 
tidings of sorrow on the instant of his murder, England 
and France, and Russia, and Italy and Switzerland, 



13 

empires and kingdoms, — tlir civilized world, — ^.joining 
with the republic, would have given fitting and 
simultaneous recognition to his funeral rites. 

I think of no parallel to this sudden and almost 
nnivei-sal reverence. If language now is tasked 
abroad and at home to speak his eulogy, only a brief 
time ago it was exhausted to invent terms of obloquy 
and of derision. What has wrung respect from 
Europe, and conquered the world's ojnnion, and 
prompted nu'U to recognize him as a peer with kings? 
What is the enduring basis of his fame ? What is his 
place in our history, and in the world's history, the 
place which he will hold by that noble manhood which 
shames all imperial titles, not only in the judgment of 
to-day, but of coming time '/ 

Here are questions which cannot be fully answered 
even by the wisest of his cotemporaries. Indeed, 
unaffected, transparent as he was, the absolute 
embodiment of true simplicity, it is not easy to sketch 
the character of Abraham Lincoln, or nnviMJ the 
hidings of his power. Thrown upon his own resources, 
compelled to work his own way in boyhood and in 
manhood, educated l)y no human teachers, bnl 
unfolding his own native endowments alike of mind 
and heart amidst tiie rudest privations of tlie 



14 

Western pioneer, while he swung his axe studying as 
a faithful scholar in the great school of God, he 
developed into a new type of greatness alike as a man 
and as a magistrate. He presents an original 
character in the list of rulers, in the drama of history, 
as little to be measured by our common standards as 
that of Washington. 

It is easy in the first glance at his life to discover 
beautiful and attractive qualities. His good nature 
was unaffected and boundless. He was genial as the 
sunshine. When he spoke, his plain features became 
illuminated by his native kindness of heart, and his 
eye beamed with love. He was absolutely void of all 
assumption ; as simple at the height of power as in 
the depth of early poverty. Still higher traits were 
natural to his heart. His honesty and fairness were 
proverbial. His manliness and courage, his heroism 
to admit his own mistakes, or accept his just responsi- 
bility ; his conscientious loyalty to his own convictions 
of right and duty, were undisputed. His patience 
increased under difficulties ; his toleration amidst 
opposition. He seemed incapal^le of passion, or 
resentment. Jefterson Davis spoke of him only with 
reviling and abuse ; yet it was a frcrpient practice 
with Mr. Lincoln to attempt to put himself in Davis's 
point of view, in order to understand, and if possil)le, 



15 

to palliate, what he iiiiist inexorably comleiiin. No 
words are adequate to describe his freedom I'roni 
vindictiveness. Amidst uiii)aralleled provocations he 
displayed an unsurpassed, if not unequalled magna- 
nimity. No more forgiving s})irit has ever lived since 
the divine prayer, " Father, forgive them, for they 
know not what they do," — first fell upon human ears ; 
and with words of kindness even for the rebel leaders 
upon his lips at the meeting of the Cabinet a few 
hours before his nmrder, — with the spirit of that 
divine prayer glowing in his heart, he went from that 
Council to his martyrdom. 

God endowed him Avith a nature as broad as the 
prairies of his own adopted State, spontaneously 
blossoming with all kindly graces, even as those 
prairies bloom with the beauty of countless flowers. 
And the stern tests to which his character was exposed 
addcil to every native gift a new strength and clianii. 
The moral heroism which made him refuse to follow 
the pernicious custom of treating his constituents when 
elected to the Legislature of Illinois in 18o4, inspired 
him to say in 18G1, that he could not " count the 
chances of his own life" in attemi)ting to preserve 
the institutions of his country, — and that "-he would 
rather be assassinated on the spot than surrender the 
priiicii»les of liberty;" and lo declare, in 18(»o, 



16 

" While I remain in my present position, I shall not 
attempt to retract, or modify the Emancipation 
Proclamation ; nor shall I return to slavery any person 
who is free by the terms of that Proclamation, or by 
any of the Acts of Congress." 

The honesty which won for him confidence at first, 
inspired the nation with ever-deepening trust, and gave 
to his words " the authority of a vote." The gentle- 
ness and kindness native to his heart developed into a 
humanity alive to every phase of suffering, compas- 
sionate to every form of guilt, — immortalizing itself 
at last by sundering the fetters of the slave. Few 
men have displayed such winning qualities, — more 
rarely still have they been blended together with 
such completeness and harmony. Absolute sincerity 
and a surpassing shrewdness, the deepest love of 
humor and the profoundest earnestness, simplicity and 
strength ; an unmatched gentleness, and a martyr's 
firmness, mingled together, not to moderate but rather 
to enhance each other,— to make each separate gem 
seem still more beautiful ;— while the whole Ijecame 
a diadem such as it has seldom been given to men to 
wear. 

It was inevitable that the people of his State, 
amona; whom he moved in such cliildlike simplicity, 



17 



should recognise his genuine manhood, and make him 
a Captain in their brief Indian war, a representative 
in tlie Legislature, and in the National Congress ; the 
standard bearer of his party in that great t-unass for 
the Senate between himself and Mr. Douglas which 
first gave him national fame. It was not strange that 
one who knew him should have said in the Presidential 
Convention, "I Avould give ten thousand dollars if I 
could speak ten minutes in favor of Abraham Lincoln. " 
The nation hardly knew his name until he was 
nominated as its chief magistrate. The enthusiaslic 
acclamations of his friends wakened feeble echoes. 
But the nation soon divined his worth when he stood 
before them so patient, yet so persistent, " so un- 
dismayed by disaster, so sober in success, so moderate 
in provocation, so merciful in victory," so heroic in 
devotion and in heart, — and bore him triumphantly a 
second time into the Presidential chair. The people 
honored him in liis life, and followed in one long 
procession, with gratitude and tears, as he was liorne 
(roui city to city, far across imperial states, to liis 
forever honored grave. 

We must hasten to other thoughts. The leading 
([ualities of his intellect shone out as clearly as the 
winning traits of his character. He had the niosl 
perfect common sense ; a remarkable sagacity and 



18 

clear-sightedness. He was eminently logical, grasping- 
principles, and following them with most honest and 
courageous thought to their legitimate conclusions. 
His views were broad and comprehensive, as well as 
clear. Ho had a wonderful ability in separating the 
vital point at issue from all extraneous questions, and 
presenting it in absolute simplicity of speech or with 
a homely aptness of illustration, more irresistible than 
the most labored argument. Out of his boundless 
resources of story and of anecdote he would bring the 
unanswerable illustration to solve the great questions 
of statesmanship, and to overwhelm ingenious 
sophistries, with a skill as unerring as that b}^ which 
Grant moves a division to the exact point to pierce 
the enemy's line and turn the tide of battle, or Farragut 
conquers the difficulty of the hour by the inspiration 
of his courage and liis genius. Whatever might be 
liis theme he spoke in the people's native tongue, and 
great questions became as clear to their understanding 
as his sincerity was persuasive to their heart. What 
we call genius may be more brilliant, but nothing is 
really greater than this. Only a strong mind can 
gain such perfect mastery of its theme both in thought 
and speech. Mr. Lincoln often manifested a mental 
insight which seemed like intuition ; an insight 
almost akin to genius, to which indeed an English 
critic has unhesitatingly given that noble name. 



19 

Here was one great source of his power in that long 
debate with Mr. Doughis, — and it enabled him so 
triumphantly to bear his lance against his trained and 
skilful adversary, that Mr. Douglas's immediate 
Senatorial success ensured his future defeat, and his 
own temporary defeat secured his final victory. 

The leading qualities of his intellect might indeed 
be readily seen ; but its depth, its real superiority 
were seldom recognized. He was criticised as slow iu 
thought. Impatient men heaped abuse upon hiiu 
because he did not keep pace w^ith them. Tiiis 
apparent slowness of his intellect came from liis 
perfect fairness. He must examine and weigh every 
possible objection, scrutinize every argument on either 
side, undermine, if possible, the foundation of every 
doubt, before he gave an absolute decision, lie was 
not the advocate to give himself without reserve to his 
favorite theory, but the judge, to decide according to 
the sovereign necessity of the hour ; according to 
imunitablc and eternal justice. He listened to otliers' 
opinions with a readiness, a deference, that often made 
men question his mental decision. l>ut tlioui^h he 
seemed to kindle his torcli from every man's caudle, it 
burned with no borrowed light. He was thoroughly 
real ; thinking out every solution for himself; as truly 
original in his conceptions and his statements as in 



20 

his character. Advisers suggested and counselled, 
but his conclusions and his measures were his own. 
With no assumption of power he had his own way, 
and no President was ever more truly the head of 
his own Administration, alike in the country and the 
cabinet. He was neither moulded nor overshadowed 
by the master intellects around him. His clear pene- 
tration, his f^uaint and homely wisdom, matched their 
diplomacy and statesmanship, compelling respect 
where opinions differed, and constraining them to 
recognize him as their peer. 

But we can speak of his intellect only in connection 
with his moral nature. The root of his greatness is 
found in his honesty and single-heartedness, his 
unselfishness, and his religious trust. Here were the 
reasons why the truth shone into his mind without a 
cloud. The purity of his purpose illuminated, 
inspired his intellect. The single eye was full of 
light. It was not strange that his mind had a 
judicial character. No sinister aims, no personal 
ambitions or resentments biased his decisions, or 
dimmed his mental sight. Little as we think so, the 
first law of mental soundness is purity of heart. 
Truth mirrors itself in the open and guileless soul, as 
the sky reflects itself in the still and crystal lake. 
The fear of the Lord is not only the beginning, but 



21 

the end of liuuian wisdom. That spirit wliich encom- 
passes all human hearts Hows into tlie souls that seek 
its light, and give it free admission, to counsel and to 
guide in the great hours of duty, in the solemn 
exigencies of earthly states. Here seems to me the 
only true solution of the fact that Mr. Lincoln so 
wondrously divined his way to the ends which others 
sought by the arts of statesmanship. 

If there is a Providence in history, compelling man 
to execute its purposes, there is a Providence in the 
conclusions and the deeds of those who only seek to be 
the servants of its will I trace his mental greatness 
and his moral grandeur alike to this. Thus it was 
that he gained a sagacity and soundness of judgment 
even in respect to military matters that will give to 
some of his letters to successive Generals a lasting 
interest and fame. The wisdom of his modest sug- 
gestions, and deferential criticisms, in the course of 
the peninsular campaign, has l)een vindicated by 
events. The magnanimity of his lett(>r to Grant 
after the capture of Vicksburg will give it immorlal 
honor. Brothers indeed do they seem, ))ound together 
in simplicity of purpose, in magnanimous recognition 
of every noble service, as well as joined together 
for all coming centuries as the great leaders in thf 
nation's hour of victory. Here was the foundation of 



22 

his loyalty to great convictions of right and duty. 
Single-hearted in his devotion to duty, moral dis- 
loyalty was an impossibility. This loyalty indeed 
scarcely seemed a special resolve, or even a conscious 
purpose, but rather the accustomed garb, the habit of 
his noble nature. His earnestness sprang from the 
same inspiration. For he Avas a profoundly earnest 
man. His sportiveness was only the relaxing of the 
bow which was tightly strung. " I must have recre- 
ation or I die," were his touching words ; and he was 
right. That cry of his burdened spirit might well 
move us both to admiration and to tears. God fitted 
him to bear his majestic work by giving him this love 
of humor which refreshed and reinvigorated his worn 
and jaded thought. The truest humor is often found 
in connection with the deepest seriousness in the 
history of literature and genius ; and those who moved 
men at one hour to laughter, at the next could melt 
them to tears. His sportiveness was on the surface, 
seen even by those who could see little else. The 
artist who painted his portrait in the picture of the 
Signing of the Proclamation, tells us of the habitual 
seriousness worn upon his features. We may imagine 
the pathos of those furrows which responsibility Jind 
care ploughed into his face. But no man imagines, no 
one beneath the heavens knows the agony of earnestness 
with which he asked himself at times whether he could 



23 

lie iiuleed responsible for the uwiul bloodshed ol" these 
terrific battles, as he nerved anew his s[>irit, senile 
as a woman's, to its stern ;ind Pr<nidential task. 

This conscientious earnestness made him invincibly 
liriii. If he seemed to decide with difficulty, it was 
<»idy the natural and noble hesitation of one who knew 
that he should never turn back. Superficial decisions 
may be lightly and quickly made. The immutable 
purpose is born in the patience, even the agony of 
thought. Mr. Lincoln's earnestness and firnniess 
were full of moral beauty. Jackson said, " The 
Union must be preserved, and treason must be 
crushed;" Lincoln said, "I have an oath registered 
in heaven to delend and maintain this Government." 
One was the outburst of patriotism joined with an 
imperious will. The other was the true heroic utter- 
ance of the martyr spirit. 

The foundation of Mr. Lincoln's greatness was in his 
moral nature. Here is an explanation of his policy, 
as well as the solution of his life. Recognizing a 
Providential guidance which it was his single aim lo 
follow, what could he do but shape his course by the 
logic of events ? Seeking to serve, not himself, bnl 
his country, humanity, God, — it was for him to keep 
his ear intently open to the teacliings of that Provi- 



24 

clenco, to interpret, and if possible to execute its 
divine decrees. It was this that kept him so hopeful 
amidst defeats, and so humble in victory. Defeat 
was only a transient check to principles whose final 
victory w\as sure. Success was not the triumph of 
his wisdom, Ijut of God's truth and cause. And here, 
once more, is the reason why he became truly great 
amidst the exigencies of the time. It is no dis- 
paragement to him to say that his opinions became 
modified and ennobled in the terrible experience of this 
national strife. That is historic fact. Instead of 
detracting from his superiority, it redounds to his 
honor. Power enlarged his views, and brought out 
all the graces of his nature. He made mistakes. 
Perhaps his kindness sometimes overcame the de- 
mands of justice. But mistakes were redeemed by 
his honest purpose, outgrown by his advancing 
thought. He was placed amidst difficulties and 
responsibilities unsurpassed in history, and he was 
capable of learning the solemn lessons of this crisis 
in the fortunes of the race. He rose to the full 
demands of the grand hours of Providence. A man 
of selfish theories, of will, of passion, would have 
been blind alike to their vital issues, and their 
sublime instructions. The receptive spirit, the 
simple, believing, heroic heart, put on dignity and 
strength for its majestic work. 



26 

It is not strange that the world did nut recognize 
his greatness at first. It was the discipline of events 
that nnfolded the golden capabilities of his natnre, 
and displayed its rich resources, its hidden wealth. 
Thus it was that the unpractised writer, widcninu in 
thought as he grew more reverential in s[iirit, 
penned a brief speech at Gettysburg, which, in the 
words of one of our Ibreniost thinkers, " will not 
easily be surpassed by words on any rcciu'ded 
occasion," — and bequeathed to us his last Inaugural 
Address, which has been pronounced in Kngliind — "a 
state paper, that for political weight, moral dignity, 
and unaffected solemnity, has had no e(|ii:il in our 
time." Noble as he certainly was when he Id't his 
home in Springfield, asking in such simplicity for 
the prayers of his friends that he might be di^ inely 
assisted in his work ; — he was nobler still on his 
martyr day, ripened for the reverence of centuries. 
Neither he nor any othci- man could at first foresee how 
great his work would be, nor what measures of [tolicy 
would be demanded lor its fulfilment. His greatness 
lay in the fact that ho kept so true and \)uro tlial 
those prayers for which he asked could be rcalh 
answered ; so true and pure that he gained wisdom 
and strength to perform the work, and fulfd the trusts, 
of his own place and hour. History is full oi' lailunv-^. 
Only the royal few^ wear an unfading crowu. A 



26 

new name is now placed in that royal company — the 
name of one " weighed in the balances and not found 
wanting," — to be hailed, in the coming time, alike 
for the mental greatness and the moral grandeur 
which it represents, with a truer, deeper homage than 
it wins to day. 

We must leave the picture of Abraham Lincoln's 
character, although so incomplete, to glance at his 
public service. Measure him by the qualities of his 
mind and heart, by the singleness of his life, and he 
wins our admiration. Measure him by the simple 
grandeur of his aims in the administration of the 
Government, and by the splendor of his success, and 
admiration deepens to reverence, and breaks out into 
thanksgiving. I think that by preeminence he had a 
Statesman's aim, and did a Statesman's work. It has 
often been said that he was not a leader, — that he 
had no distinct political policy, no clearly defined 
political ideas. He was not a leader in the sense in 
which that word is usually applied to the chiefs of 
parties. But he had a political creed, — simple, clear, 
American ; a creed which was itself an inspiration. 
He stated it in Independence Hall, when he said, " I 
never had a feeling, politically, that did not spring 
from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of 
Independence. It was not the mere matter of the 



27 

separation of the Colonies from the mother huul that 
kept this Confederacy so long together, but that 
sentiment in the Declaration which gave liberty not 
alone to the people of this country, but, I hope, to the 
world, for all future time ; which gave promise, that 
in due time, the weight would be lifted from the 
shoulders of all men." 

Grasping the vital idea of the nation with such 
distinctness, re-incarnating in himself the original 
genius of the Government, he saw that the existence 
of slavery was a solecism ; and that its extension, and 
consecration, its nationalization by congressional legis- 
lation, and judicial decrees, were absolute apostacy and 
profanation. How nobly he kept that political laith ! 
When in Congress in 1849, he asked for Emancipation 
in the District of Columbia, and voted forty-two times 
for the Wilmot proviso. In the canvas with Mr. 
Douglas in 1858, he said, "A house divided against 
itself cannot stand. I believe this Government cannot 
endure permanently, half slave, and half free. It 
will become all one thing, or all the other." When 
he went to Washington in 1861, he proposed to save 
the country on this basis of its original principle of 
liberty. 

I said he had a statesman's aim. What is states- 



28 

manship for America but a cumpreheiisiuu oi', and 
fidelity to, the fundamental principles of American 
nationality, and American life ? Abraham Lincoln 
was statesmanlike in his aims, and statesmanlike in 
their execution. He was as wise in action, as he was 
noble in theory. He desired never to transcend his 
own power, or to violate the liberty of the States, in 
his attempt to preserve, protect, and defend the 
Government, and to bring it back, if possible, to its 
original principles. He could not take the oath of 
ofhce to get power, and break the oath in using the 
power — even to indulge his primary, abstract judgment 
on the moral (juestion of slavery. But when it 
became a military necessity in the judgment of the 
loyal men of the country, and of his own conscience, 
he struck it down by Executive power. Sublimely 
he bore himself while he patiently waited for what 
would seem to him God's chosen hour. He never 
wavered in his loyalty to liberty. He took no 
backward step. 

Orators, statesmen, in less dangerous days, in the 
Senate, and in the country, one by one, had (juailed 
before the rising arrogance of the slave power. In 
the crisis of the country's agony he said respecting 
it, "Broken by it ? I may be asked to bow to it. 
I never will. The prol)ability that we may fail in 



20 

this struggle is not to deter us from supporting a cause 
which we deem to be just. It shall not deter me. 
If ever I feel the soul within me elevate and expand to 
those dimensions not wholly unworthy of its Almighty 
Architect, it is when I contemplate the cause of my 
country deserted by all beside, and I standing up 
boldly and alone, hurling defiance at her oppressors. 
Here, without contemplating consequences, before 
high heaven, and in the lace of the world, I swear 
eternal fidelity to the just cause, as I deem it, of the 
land, of my life, my liberty, my love." Noble words ; 
nobly spoken, and still more nobly kept. Slavery 
could murder him, but it could not bend him. 

Steadily he watched the necessities and indications 
of the hour, with his ear intent to catch the accents of 
Providence, and his hand upon the public heart, till 
God's time, man's true opportunity, clearly came, and 
he issued his Proclamation of Emancipation. It has 
been said that he came to it reluctantly. The 
reluctance did not arise from a feeble love of liberty, 
but from his conscientious questionings respecting his 
own official power. The Proclamation itself was the 
embodiment of his life-long faith. The spirit of the 
signers of the Declaration, living within liiiii always, 
moved him (o take his pen and write words iuiiiKulal as 
their own. Never was he so manifestly an instrument 



30 

in the Almighty's hand as then. The Prochimation 
was one of the great acts of statesmanship. It 
paralyzed European hostility, and made foreign 
intervention impossible. It made the millions of the 
colored race loyal even to death. More truly than 
Vicksburg, or Gettysburg, or Atlanta, it decided the 
issue of the war. But it was more than statesmanship. 
It was one grand step towards the Christianization of 
human government, and the civilization of the race. 
Fitly has it been said that it gives its author a place 
in universal history. That " Brutumfulmen^'' as it 
was termed in contempt, was a thunderbolt of God, 
striking down the most gigantic wrong, purifying 
the world's atmosphere, heralding serener skies for all 
lands, and the most distant time. 



i 



Abraham Lincoln mastered the problem committed 
to his hands. He felt that he was acting not merely 
for a single hour, but for all time. The question for 
decision was, — " Whether this nation, or any nation, 
conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition 
that all men are created equal, can long endure." 
"Must a government," he perpetually asked himself, 
" be too strong for the liberties of its own people, or 
too weak to maintain its own existence?" He 
summoned the slumbering war powers of the Consti- 
tution to defend its existence, and establish its 



31 

sovereignty. He used them so manifestly with ;i 
single eye to this supreme necessity, that he did not 
infringe on the people's liberties. 

We have passed through no revolution during this 
tremendous strife, ))ut repelled one. The outbreak of 
civil war was only the last act of a drama which 
opened half a century ago in the demoralization of 
the public mind in respect to slavery ; whose 
development has gone on through every shifting 
scene of parties, carried forward as truly by the 
connivance and concessions of the North as by the 
increasing arrogance of the South, till the Institution 
which was once condemned as evil, was exalted as 
divine ; and the idea of human equality, which gave 
the nation birth, was scouted by judicial decree ; and 
treason to national traditions and national ideas, 
became treason in arms, to deluge the land in a sea 
of l)lood. 

Julian, the Apostate, a little less than two years 
upon the throne, attempted to re-establish Paganism in 
the place of Christianity as the religion of the Roman 
Empire. Happily the Apostates of to-day, attempting 
a revolution almost as monstrous, never gained the 
throne to establish slavery in the place of liberty. 
Thanks, we sjiy, a thousand fold, that they did not 



gain it, when we contrast the Apostate Emperor's 
virtues with the worse than Pagan cruelty, and bar- 
baric crimes of slavery. 

Al)raham Lincoln neither inaugurated, nor ac- 
complished a resolution. That would have justified 
resistance Ijoth South and North, till resistance became 
despair. He stood against a causeless attempt at 
resolution, as became the Chief Magistrate of a State ; 
doing nothing, even according to the unfriendly 
judgment of the Lon(k)n Times, "to aggravate the 
quarrel, and everything to shorten it, or prevent it," 
but when treason drew the sword, vindicating the 
original and fundamental ideas of the Republic. 

The only change in our organic law, made not by 
the sword, but by Constitutional process, is in the 
adoption of the glorious amendment prohibiting 
slavery everywhere beneath the flag ; a change which 
only embodies in positive enactment the purpose and 
wish of the fathers of the nation ; what they hoped 
to have seen accomplished before they went to their 
graves. It is an amendment which at once gives freedom 
to the slave, and secures freetlom to the free. In the 
demoralization of national feeling' for almost half a 
century, it has been with this Government as with 
those immortal pictures whose matchless beauty was 



33 

those immortal pictures whose matchless beauty was 
covered with figures conceived by a corrupt imagina- 
tion, and drawn by degenerate hands. To Abraham 
Lincoln it was given to erase the base and demon 
shapes, and restore to view the original, divine work 
of genius. It has been with us as with the old 
Jewish people, who once buried their original law from 
sight, until its rediscovery by one of their purest 
kings seemed a new revelation to the corrupted nation. 

Take away the name of Conservative from those 
who have usurped it, and give it to this true ruler just 
laid in his grave, to whom it rightfully and preemi- 
nently belongs; to him who re-established our original 
law, and re-united the nation in its glorious covenant 
of liberty. Every American exults in the wonderful 
development of military power during these years of 
strife. These patriot armies have accomplished what 
old world generals and rulers pronounced impossible. 
Leaders have been trained for great achievements both 
upon land and sea, which will enrol their names among 
those of the great captains ol' liistury. 

But I do not chiefly honor Abraham Lincoln for the 

triumphant military success which gives lustre to his 

administration. I hon^r liiiii wlio brought back our 

original faith, re-awakening tlie spirit, re-enthroning 

5 



34 

the ideas in which the nation had its birth. Honor to 
him, who, in old prophetic words, was " the repairer 
of the breach," — nay, the destroyer of the breach, 
by compacting us together into a true nationality of 
liberty, — who was " the restorer of paths to dwell 
in." Honor to him to whom it was given to realize 
his own ideal ; to establish the truth which lovers of 
liberty waited for in expectation, and kings waited for 
in fear, — that a "government of the people, by the 
people, for the people," may be as strong, as 
permanent, as the eternal truth on which it rests. 
We repeat the phrase wdiich unconsciously drops 
from all men's lips, and call him "a providential 
man." We needed a man who never had a feeling, 
" politically, that did not spring from the sentiments 
contained in the Declaration of Independence," to 
come in the spirit and might of our early faith, as the 
old piophets came in degenerate days, in the spirit of 
the true and God-given law. We needed a man of 
the people to vindicate the people's* cause ; a man 
with intellectual shrewdness and power to master the 
problem of the time, to match the wit of diplomatists, 
to compel the respect of princes, but "whose pulse 
twinned with the people's pulses," and whose hand 
was linked with theirs at every step. 

Even the traits wliich have been criticised fitted 



him to inoct the exigency of the time. His apparent 
slowness kept liim in sympathy with tin; popular 
thought. The lenity which seemed mistaken kindness, 
a Ibrgetl'ulness of justice through the plentitude of 
love, not only preserved his own name free from stain, 
but saved us from vindictiveness, and made our record 
pure before the world's watching eyes. Thank God, 
there has been one civil war in history in which 
the Ijarbarity belongs to one side of the strife. His 
very mistakes, so magnanimously admitted, so soon 
outgrown, only served to deepen confidence in the 
thoi-(nigh rectitude of his nature. 

Truly as the character of Washington was tlio Ixmd 
of Union in Revolutionary times, making it a historic 
fact that the nation was kept one by his influence, 
and inhered for a time in his person, so truly has 
the character of Abraham Lincoln been a bond of 
Union now. No one else could have so perfectly 
united the people. He never lost his faitli in tlie 
nation's cause, and the nation never lost its faith in 
///?/? oven in the darkest liour. 

It was sometimes said that we wanted a dictator. 
We had one. We did not want a dictator a Her iho 
pattern of a Cicsar. No French Emperor of to-day 
can re-establish Ciicsarism in public opinion, citlier l»y 



36 

his sword or pen. That phase of dictatorship is fast 
becoming obsolete. We did not want a Cromwell 
who should drive a refractory Parliament out of their 
seats. We wanted a man whose spirit should embody 
all the gentleness of the highest Christian civilization, 
but who still had an oath registered in heaven to 
uphold, at whatever cost, the sacred cause of liberty ; 
a man who should exercise a practical dictatorship by 
the simple majesty of truth and character. Was ever 
man more truly every inch a President ? He had a 
purpose as fixed as the soul of Hampden or of Crom- 
well. He had an influence in the Cabinet, and in 
the nation, working often noiselessly, unseen as the 
forces of nature, yet like them causing the public 
heart to gravitate towards the single noble end he 
perpetually served. 

Honor every noble service on the field. Honor 
every faithful soldier of our patriot armies. But 
while you look here, or there, to eulogize brilliant 
deeds, honor also the silent power of this rare mind 
and life, steadily, patiently working, to compact us 
into a nationality of liberty. The younger Hallam 
said, " I believe the Bible to be God's book, because 
it is man's book, and fits into every fold of the human 
heart." I believe Abraham Lincoln to have been a 
providential man, because he fitted into all the needs 



37 

oi* this national exigency witli an adaptation in»t 
otherwise explained. So true was he to his trust, 
that we give to him the praise. So suited was he to 
his work, that we give to God the glory. 

With a character so rich, and a service so grand, 
what is his place in history ? Shall we compare him 
with others in order to make his greatness manifest f 
Look at him for a moment in contrast with Davis, the 
Cataline of modern days, leaving the Senate stung by 
denunciations from Andrew Johnson as patriotic and 
indignant, if not as classic, as those by which Cicero 
drove Cataline from the Senate of Rome. Contrast 
the spirit of the two just before the beginning of 
the war. Abraham Lincoln says, " Li my view of 
the present aspect of alfairs, there need be no 
bloodshed or war. There is no necessity for it. I 
am not in favor of such a course ; and I may say in 
advance, that there will be no bloodshed unless it be 
forced upon the government, — and then it will be 
compelled to act in self-defence." Jeiferson Davis 
exclaims, — " The time for compromise is past, and 
we are now determined to maintain our position, and 
make all who oppose us smell Southern gunpowder, and 
feel Southern steel." The words of one are those of 
the Christian patriot, as gentle as he was undismayed 
and true. Tlmse of tlic other are the fiery spccdi ol" 



38 

the traitor, already ripening into the baseness which 
would consider nothing dishonorable that " struck at 
the heart's blood of his enemies." 

Contrast the triie gentleman with the Mse, — one, 
homely in speech, often, perhaps, uncouth in man- 
ners, but capable of bearing himself with a grace and 
dignity which prompted Edward Everett to praise, 
speaking regally at Gettysburg, according to Gold- 
Avin Smith, and m;untaining always that matchless 
courtesy that flows from purity and gentleness of 
heart ; the other, polished in utterance, courtly in 
bearing, but capable of starving prisoners, — with 
grace of manner glossing over barbarity of soul. 
Compare the Puritan and tlie Cavalier as they re- 
af)pear among the actors of the hour, — the one losing 
all the sternness of the Puritan, but retaining all his 
faith and heroism, all that made up his consecrated 
greatness ; the other, observing all the formalities of 
liturgies, but imperious in will, scorning, trampling 
upon the lowly in his indomitable pride. 

Compare them still once more. One walks tlie 
streets of Richmond, lifting his hat in reverence, in 
unutterable joy, as he receives the greetings of the 
freedmen who hail him as their Savior, and hears in their 
exulting shouts the first outpourings of the unending 



39 

benedictions which they will hc;ip upon his name. 
One is ascended now, already welcomed into everlast- 
ing habitations by those whom he lifted to the dignity 
of manhood, or made friends by the noble use of 
power during their earthly lives, but wdio had passed 
on before ; by the martyrs to liberty of whom he 
spoke as so nobly dedicating the field of Gettysburg, 
and a hundred other scenes of patriotic daring. The 
other is confined in a dungeon ; his name [i derision ; 
Avhile, if imagination and conscience fulfil their office, 
the lusterless faces of those who sank into idiocy, the 
skeleton forms of those who perished under the fiendish 
starvation which he suffered the prisoners to endure, 
will haunt his thoughts in every w^aking hour, and 
torture him with avenging dreams. Leave the traitor 
to his memory, and his fate. We wdll not look dowu 
into hell. We need no such contrast to show Abraham 
Lincoln's claim to iuimortal honor. No spirit more 
quickly than his, indeed, would have looked across 
the gulf between himself and his fiercest foes, and 
parted with his honors in order to save even the 
traitor souls. But not even his inexhaustibl(> mag- 
nanimity can save them from the terrible judgment of 
history. 

Unrol the list of patriots ior a nutnieiit, and 
compare him with those who held the same jdace of 



40 

power. Will you put him by the side of Jackson, 
patriotic in every pulse, but imperious ; a democrat 
in theory, but an autocrat in spirit ? Will you stop 
at the name of Jefferson, republican in principle, but 
aristocratic in education and in taste ? Go back to 
Washington, enthroned above them all by the verdict 
of the race. You place Lincoln's portrait lower than 
that of Washington in this hall to-day. In coming 
days their portraits shall hang side by side, to symbol- 
ize the equal glory of their names, the kindred 
fellowship which their spirits have already found. 
Washington Ave revere. Abraham Lincoln we love. 
One was the father of his country. The other was its 
deliverer, with the added glory that belongs to the 
liberator of the slave. We disparage no other man 
to enhance his honor. Thanks that America is so 
rich in unfading names. The world is rich in 
glorious ones. Scarcely has a single month ever 
given two nobler names to immortality than those of 
Abraham Lincoln and Richard Cobden. We commit 
Abraham Lincoln's fame to the judgment of the future 
without a question respecting its decision. And if 
any thing could enhance the lustre of that verdict it 
would be his martyr death. There was a dramatic 
fitness, and a dramatic completeness in his life. It 
was fitting that a child of the people should vindicate 
and uphold the government of the people in the 



41 

decisive trial of its power. He has re-possessed 
every stolen fort, and precisely finished the work 
which he first proposed. The anthems of victory 
were sounding in his ear. He was withdrawn when 
his star touched the zenith, where it shall remain 
fixed forever. Among the noblest in aims, he was 
also among the most successful of men. He had 
compacted the shattered State so firmly together, that 
even his own murder, trusted, leaned upon as he was, 
produced no jar, and the power passed into the hands 
of another child of the people, competent to meet the 
work that awaits him, to vindicate the majesty of 
law, to assure the victory of liberty. 

In this judgment day of the nation, the teudeiicies 
of systems, — the secrets of the heart have been 
revealed. As has been truly said, we have learned 
that a democracy is not fickle, nor vicious, nor cruel, 
but firm and strong ; and that a people bravo, self- 
sacrificing and free, is mightier in arms than one 
equally brave, or equally self sacrificing, but not free. 
The true character of these clashing civilizations has 
been exposed. The civilization of justice and liberty 
has vindicated its humanity, keeping the heart (tf the 
people kindly and generous, as well as brave, amidsl 
the unparalleled, and unutterable barbarities of this 
traitorous war. The civilization wliidi worsjiijis 




42 

slavery has exposed its vital spirit too. The chivalry 
that men once honored, " tempered the fierceness of 
a former age with gentleness. The chivalry of the 
South infused savage fierceness into this nineteenth 
century humanity." These were men who have 
l)lackened their names by unutterable crimes. But 
the power which they served, beginning with a con- 
tempt for human right, brutalized both its upholders 
and its victims, and by its logical results, led on 
to the adoption of worse than barbaric weapons to 
secure its ends. A striking picture represents the 
assassin, with his pistol in his hand, looking upon his 
unsuspecting victim, while a demon shape stands 
behind him reaching out his finger to prompt him to 
fire the murderous shot. Slavery is the fiend which 
has stood behind its defenders, who more even than 
the bondmen themselves are its victims, prompting 
with demon finger to assassinations, to the starving 
of prisoners, to the butchery of wounded men on 
the field of battle, to the burning of cities, to the 
unloosing of the pestilence. By an unerring logic the 
ideas which men serve finally work out their sublime, 
or their damning results in character and life. Liberty 
has vindicated itself to-day. It needs no argument, no 
plea for its defence. Slavery has unmasked itself. It 
needs no other indictment to secure for itself eternal 
infamy. Not alone from fidelity to the principles 



43 

which gave the nation birth, not alone from compas- 
sion for the bondman, but from love for those whose 
faith in liberty it had blotted out, even when it had 
not yet accomplished its brutal and barbaric work 
upon the character, we will expel slavery i'rom 
every state or territory beneath our flag, that it may 
never more pollute a single foot of soil, or curse 
another soul. What the Declaration of Independ- 
ence declared in immortal words, the banner shall 
re-announce forever by its glorious and multiplying 
stars. We will build our martyred President's truest 
monument, — a nation re-baptized and consecrated by 
the principles which were his own continual inspiration. 
States, society itself, must be re-constructed in tlie 
interest of liberty. The spirit of the Mayflower, not 
of the slave ship, is to rule this continent. Punishing, 
disfranchising the few, but pardoning the many, we 
are ready to welcome back the returning prodigals 
with a true and unrestricted love. But they must 
come back in penitence, renouncing the harlot of 
slavery, swearing unreserved allegiance to the divine 
law of liberty. We will commit the government of 
traitorous States to none but loyal hands. Disloyalty 
shall no longer corrupt our politics, or profane our air. 
If it shall attempt to accomplish through the ballot 
box what it has failed to accomplish by the sword, 
then, alien as it is to our wishes and our purpose, let 



44 

military power retain its sway till loyalty is secure. 
Henceforth we are not to have the statesmanship, or 
rather the apostacy from statesmanship, which com- 
promises the ideas of liberty. In those undying words 
at Gettysburg, this nation is " dedicated to the prop- 
osition that all men are created equal." The earth 
is the Lord's, and all its kingdoms should be his ; but 
this Continent, at least, shall politically acknowledge 
the Golden rule. Asserting the rights of manhood for 
all men, it shall assure to all men the privileges of 
manhood. The spirit of caste shall be swept out of our 
hearts, even as the word slavery is to be swept out of 
our statute books. The black man, helping us in revo- 
lutionary times to establish the government, and in 
these traitorous days to save it — his soul white with 
loyalty, brave unto the end, shall enjoy the privileges 
partly purchased by his heroism and his blood. The 
hand that uses the rifle must cast the ballot for liberty. 
Whatever limitations there may be in the exercise of 
suffrage, we shall put away the sacrilege that recognizes 
the distinction of color, nationality, race. I do not fear 
these problems of statesmanship. Events will give 
the nation wisdom and skill to solve the problems of 
days of peace as of war. The Republic will train up 
its leaders and statesmen out of its" humblest homes in 
the future as in the past. Our fathers' God has been, 
and will be, our God forever. This is no day for poll- 



45 

ticians, who, now that doctrines of liberty have boeonic 
national, hasten to serve them as they once served 
the behests of slavery, because that is the way to 
place and power. We want no money-changers in 
this temple of freedom and of God. We want 
men consecrated to liberty, as our heroic soldiers 
consecrated themselves to their country, — as he was 
consecrated whose name we honor to-day, and shall 
honor forever. We register our oath in heaven to that 
self-consecration. We love our country all the more 
since she has passed through these purifying fires ; 
since " every drop of blood drawn by the lash has 
been paid by another drawn by the sword ;" since we 
can hope for, and have a country still more worthy 
of undying love and honor. Prosperity, greatness, 
dominion, will come with justice and with liberty. 
When, in Abraham Lincoln's golden words, " With 
malice toward none, with charity for all, with rirui- 
ness in the right as God gives us to see the right, we 
strive to finish the work we are in, to bind u[) the 
nation's wounds, to care for liini who shall have borne 
the battle, ami lor his widow and his orphans, to do 
all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting 
peace among ourselves and with all nations," — we 
shall have built his best and grandest monument; one 
conferring upon ourselves the truest honor, lo stand 
as the sublimest testimony to his eternal laiiio. 



46 



Department uf State, 
Waskin<jton, May 27, 1865. 

Stephen P. Webb, Esq., 

City Clerk of Salem, Mass., 

Sir : — 1 have the honor to acknowledge the receipt 
of" a copy of certain resohitions, adopted by the City Council of" Salem, 
Mass., on the occasion of the assassination of the late President of the 
United States, and the attempted assassination of the Secretary of State. 
The sentiments so eloquently expressed in these resolutions, and the 
testimony they bear to the elevated character of the late Chief Magistrate, 
are fully and gratefully appreciated. 

I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

W. HUNTER, Acting Secretarv. 



47 

(irbcr of (L'vcr rises 

AT MECHANIC HALL, SALEM, JUNE 1, 1865. 



* EULOGY by Kev. Oeokce W. Bbigus, D. D. 

RELIGIOUS SERVICES by Rt-v. Edward S. Atwood. 

MUSICAL EXERCISES by the Ahion Cub, M. Fesollosi, Conductor. 

I. MOTET. 

•• Aliniglity Lord ln-t'on- tliy tlirono," — \V. M. 15vrn-es. 

II. READING OF THE SCRIPTURES. 

Sei.E( Ti().\.s : — .Joel i. -J, 3. 2 S;iiii. i. I'J. Jor. xlviii. 17.. I 'I'licss. 
ii. 1— 11. J.)l) xxix. 11—17, 21, t';3. 1 Corinth, iii. 10. -J Tim. 
iv. 7, 8. Josli. xxiii. 14. SClnoii. xvi. 14. 2 Kings xxiii. 3(1. 
2 Cliroii. xxxii. 33. 

III. PRAYER. 

IV. HYMN, y>y Kkv. Jone.^ \'erv. 

God I wiio dost the nations lead, 
Tliougli oft in ways to them nnI<uown ; 

To Thee we look, in this our n(;ed, 
A suppliant people seek thy throne. 

For he, whom thou ditlst raise to ^uide. 

Has fallen hy the assassin's hand ; 
In Tliee alone would we confide 

To guard, to guide, to save our land. 

Til rough ])erils groat, fi-oni year to year. 

Thou liasr thus far our natic^n 1)rouglit ; 
And o-ivon the victory to cheer, 

And, hy our Chief, deliverance wrought. 

Witli earnest jn-ayer he sought thy will. 

In all tlie great events of life ; 
And nobly did his work fulfil, 

Througli four long years of Moody strife. 

(), lift us u]) in this sad liour, 

Let not our Country's foes prevail; 
Sustain us Ity thy mighty power, 

lict not to U8 thy promise fail ! 

.May .Justice, Jiilnrty, and Peace, 

For which liis lili' he freely gave. 
Bless all our land ; and never cease 

Td shed their ^-lurv round liis i^rave. 



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48 



V. EULOGY. 



VI. HYMN, by A. C. GooDELL Jk. 

O Thou who givest life 

And takt'st it again ; 
Who, as a father lovingljs 

O'er all mankind dost reign ; 
Our refuge and protector when 

The King of kings was slain, — 

In this our time of grief 

And douht we come to Thee ! 
Thou only eanst assuage our woe ; 

And, from thy throne, we see 
That, in the things we chiefly doubt, 

There is no mystery. 

If we did never turn 

Away from thy dear face, 
If we did never faithless grow 

And loosen thy embrace. 
Then doubt and fear would never find 

In us a dwelling-place. 

Then, through the deepest gloom 

That ever shrouds our way. 
Our hearts would never faint, — our eyes 

Would never miss the ray 
Which, like the rising morning-star. 

Heralds the perfect day. 

Trusting thy sovereign will. 

Confiding in thy care, — 
As knowing that Thou kinder art 

Than earthly parents are. 
And that Thou lovest whom Thou call'st 

The cruel cross to 1)ear, — 

Then we should cease to mourn 

For them — the good and wise — 
Whcmi Thou dost set on eartii to be 

A liglit unto our eyes, 
But whom, in thy good time. Thou tak'st 

To shine in paradise. 



VII. BENEDICTION. 



